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Most Helpful Favorable Review

47 out of 59 people found this review helpful.

Well! That was interesting!

I really recommend this book if you are the least intrigued by it, two thumbs up. These two main characters are anything but the face they are showing each other. They EACH have baggage. This is anything but a simple, sweet story. This is an easy book to fall into, a fa...

I really recommend this book if you are the least intrigued by it, two thumbs up. These two main characters are anything but the face they are showing each other. They EACH have baggage. This is anything but a simple, sweet story. This is an easy book to fall into, a fast beginning. The writing is compelling, very descriptive, indeed. The characters are all repressed and strange, trying to appear normal. The steamy sex scenes were unexpected, and well, intriguing. There are some murderous notions, too. There are many surprises as we read of extravagance and material wastefulness beyond our wildest dreams. Dysfunctional relationships. There were a couple drops in the story, like turbulence on a plane, as I felt built up, then...bla, bla, and that's that. Yet, as we learned, "such things happen", and perhaps that was intended. The author, though, does a fine job keeping us connected and packing in quite a lot of action in what seems to be about a 6-month roller coaster ride.

posted by dreamerbyday on May 4, 2009

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Most Helpful Critical Review

37 out of 42 people found this review helpful.

Don't be fooled by the first chapter!

I read the sample first chapter, and I was intrigued. The next couple of chapters were interesting, too, and so I kept reading. By the time I realized that I hated this book, I was 100 pages into it and then felt I had to finish. (I hate it when that happens.)

The...

I read the sample first chapter, and I was intrigued. The next couple of chapters were interesting, too, and so I kept reading. By the time I realized that I hated this book, I was 100 pages into it and then felt I had to finish. (I hate it when that happens.)

The writing drove me crazy. To describe the soon-to-be husband's desire, just about every sentence for 5 pages started with, "He wanted..." As in, "He wanted to speak to her of his desire, he wanted to undress her, he wanted to unbutton, he wanted to see her step out of her chemise, he wanted to lead her to his bed, he wanted to pull back the coverlet, he wanted to hold her face, he wanted to kiss her, he wanted her to want all this and he wanted her to fear it, he wanted her to submit..." This goes on for pages and pages while I was saying to myself, "I get it! He's horny!" And when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I read this incredible sentence:

"He wanted to slice her open and lie inside the warm blood of her body."

How romantic! Say what?

The female lead is more interesting, but still badly drawn. She seems to change her persona just by changing her dress. Characters are briefly introduced and then discarded - I didn't understand why, except maybe to fill in more pages between the "He wanted" and "She thought" sentences. None of the "surprises" surprised me.

Skip it!

posted by georface on June 30, 2010

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Have read better stories.

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Anonymous

Posted January 26, 2012

Depressing

This whole story I thought was depressing--from the characters to the surroundings--the home--the outside environment. I just felt it was so morbid. Also, pages and pages of description--and, again, the descriptions of everything were depressing. I was into it for awhile, but I never felt uplifted, so I stopped reading for a bit--then finally finished it. I can't say it was a horrible book as I have read worse, but something I would never read again.

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Anonymous

Posted January 25, 2012

Good read

Although the book took a little bit to get going, the story made up for the slow start. A few unexpected twists that kept you wanting to keep reading! If you ca make it through the first 2 chapters you wont be disappointed.

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Anonymous

Posted January 11, 2012

Ok

It is an ok read.:

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Anonymous

Posted December 18, 2011

Reliable Wife

Book is an interesting exploration of the the many ways that trying to control your heart ultimately creates its own wounds.

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Anonymous

Posted October 29, 2011

Good rea
Good guick read

Liked the story line. Bit short ending

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8195827

Posted October 15, 2011

Dark and wonderfull all at the same time.

I really enjoyed the vivid imagery. Each character was brought out to the fullest so that you knew their thoughts and motivations. Their passions were uncovered. Their ramblings were so intertwined, that sometimes I didn't know who was speaking. A dark and wonderfull read indeed.

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Yareth78

Posted October 9, 2011

Took a while...

Although it took me a while to actually finish this one, I thought it was an OK read. Not something I would ever recommend or buy on my own. I believe this was one of the Free Friday books....otherwise I would have never read it.

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rf_momofthree

Posted October 7, 2011

A good read

Slow getting started. I almost gave up on it, but I'm glad I didn't. It turned into a surprisingly good story with some unexpected twists and turns.

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Not My Cup of Tea

When I read the back cover copy of A Reliable Wife, I was intrigued. I was convinced that this would be a page turner that would describe romance between two ordinary people. What I found was a tale of twists and turns, a story of two manipulative people who try to one-up each other. Nothing, and no one, is what it seems to be. Instead of happiness, I found despair. Instead of light and goodness, I found darkness and sorrow. The story is well-written and the author really gets into the minds of his characters. Although I personally did not rate this book high on my list of favorites, I none-the-less admire the author's circuitous route to reaching the end of his tale. In 1907 when Ralph Truitt advertises for a bride, "a reliable wife", he receives numerous responses. His choice is Catherine Land who responds that she is "a simple, honest woman". From the first moment the reader meets Catherine it is evident that she is anything but a simple, yet honest, woman. She has a plan to wed and win money and security. In bits and pieces her past is revealed to the reader. Ralph, the wealthy widower who has placed the advertisement, has plans of his own to use his new wife as a lure to bring back a prodigal son (now grown). The son wants nothing to do with the man who he claims was his father in name only. The story is full of tragic incidents, suspicion, misplaced loyalties, near murders, beatings, deceptions, and the like. The climax is quite the thrilling scene and the idea behind the outcome proves that good does exist in all people although it is sometimes buried deeper in some than in others.

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agrelyea

Posted August 19, 2011

Entertaining

A quick read. The author does a nice job of having you dislike a few characters. I think she underdeveloped one of the main characters, but I still enjoyed it none the less.

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Bittersweet story...liked it

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2345785

Posted July 26, 2011

V I Percy jackson the lightning theif

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Anonymous

Posted July 18, 2011

Poisonous, not Passionate

This is not for someone who's looking for a book of raunchy romance with lots of detailed imagery. This is a more subtle and emotional love story that infects slowly like. . . "poison" (a symbol referred to again and again in the book).

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Lelania

Posted July 3, 2011

This book could have been written in half the pages.

It was intersting enough but you could skip many many pages to get to the end.

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